Disclaimer: True Blood and Southern Vampire Mysteries are the property of Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris. I make no financial gains, just have fun playing with their characters.
A/N: So, here I am again with another True Blood fic born out of sheer frustration. I struggled to finish the last one for Season three, but when the actual season aired, it just killed all the inspiration. Season four cemented what bugs me the most about this show...lack of focus on the main story lines. I know I'm not alone in this sentiment, but I know I won't get what I want either. It's a shame really, the show has so much potential, but it doesn't seem to know that. Thank goodness for fanfic!
Anyway, this story picks up where the last season left off. I've heard a few spoilers, and I may or may not use them. Just know one thing, I'm not going to spend too much time on the minor story lines, so I have a job to do with all the dangling lines season four left for me to sort out. But I love a challenge. Please let me know what you think, your reviews are much appreciated.
Special thanks to SouthernLady for her magnificent beta skills...she did it for me even without any naked Eric scenes. What a trooper!
Blah Blah, Vampire Emergency, Blah-True Blood Season Five
Season 5-Episode One
Halloween Night-12:30 am-Bill Compton's House
"What a bitch," Eric said dryly as he eyed the remains of Nan Flanagan - the former voice and face of the AVL and the Authority.
Bill found himself chuckling with the only living Sheriff left in Louisiana, and simultaneously wondered at the irony of the unlikely affinity they shared. He knew Eric had his own agenda, but surprisingly they seemed to be in agreement more and more. It was odd, but having the oldest vampire in the state as an ally was a good thing.
"Help me clean this up, Sheriff. Most of my staff is dead and I can't leave it for the maid service to find in the morning," Bill noted, moving from behind his desk.
Eric raised a brow in automatic response to the very idea of cleaning, but on second thought, it was the most pragmatic thing to do. "I'll get rid of the bodies. You take care of that," he indicated to the puddle of goo at his feet. He would only go so far.
Bill grinned with amusement. "Fine."
Just as the two men were about to get to their tasks, a tidal wave of urgent desperation cried out to their blood.
"Sookie," Eric and Bill spoke in unison.
"I'm going," Eric declared, already at the door.
"Wait! She wants us to leave her alone. We should honor that," Bill insisted.
"You honor it," Eric replied, taking off at full speed, leaving Bill with little choice but
to follow in his wake.
Seconds later, Eric burst through Sookie's door, having only a moment to take in the bloody scene in the kitchen before Bill joined him to witness the same.
"Help her! You have to help her!" Sookie cried out as she clung to Tara's lifeless body.
Bill moved forward. "I don't know that we can, Sookie. Her injury looks too severe," he explained as gently as he could.
"No! She can't be dead. Please! One of you give her your blood. We have to try," Sookie pleaded.
Wordlessly, Eric approached the opposite side of Tara's prone form and bit into his wrist as he knelt onto the kitchen floor. He didn't give a shit about Tara in the slightest, and would have given no thought at all to her death. But Sookie cared and that was reason enough.
Sookie and Bill watched intently as Eric placed his wounded wrist in Tara's mouth. After a few seconds, he stretched his free hand and let it rest over Tara's heart.
He met Sookie's hopeful gaze with uncertainty. "Your friend is beyond the point of resuscitation by my blood. I can attempt to make her vampire, if you wish, but I can't promise you it will work."
New tears began to spring from Sookie's eyes as her face crumbled into despair. "Oh, God! I don't know! Tara hates vampires."
"Do it," Lafayette spoke decisively. No one had even noticed him enter the kitchen, and it didn't take him long to realize what was happening. "I done lost one person I love today, ain't no fuckin' way I'm losing another, and I don't give a goddamn if she's pissed off when she wakes up a vampire. Just do it."
Sookie nodded her assent to Eric, and he got to work.
Jason's house
If Steve Newlin—newly made vampire—thought popping out his fangs would strike mortal fear in Jason Stackhouse, he would be terribly let down. Jason let out a whooping laugh. He tried to regain control, for a moment, only to lose it again in a fit of giggles.
"Oh man, this is fuckin' priceless!" Jason finally raved, when he regained his power of speech. "Reverend Newlin, a vampire! The ironing of it is just...freakin' awesome!"
"It's IRONY, you moron," Newlin scowled and clicked his fangs back in. "Invite me in."
Jason was still trying to suss out irony vs. ironing, but snapped back to the moment at Steve's demand.
"The hell? Call me a moron and ask for invite? Here's your invite, fucktard!" he shouted and slammed the door shut.
"Dang it," Steve muttered from outside Jason's house. He silently chided himself for being such an inept vampire and thought maybe he should have tried glamouring right away-except he hadn't quite mastered that skill. He drew in a heavy sigh and squared his shoulders. The good reverend still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
"Jason," Newlin called sing-songy through the door. "You may want to open this door and invite me in. It's either that or I set your house on fire and burn you out."
After a moment, the door opened and Steve Newlin was looking down the barrel of a shotgun.
"One thing I learned from you, Newlin, wooden bullets. Set fire to my house and you are a big 'ol pile of nasty goo. Now, you ain't getting in my house, so whatever it is you want from me, you can tell me all about it from out there. And forget trying to glamour me, I am keeping my eyes locked on target," Jason made his proclamation in his best deputy sheriff voice, his eyes fixated on Newlin's heart.
Vampire Steve raised his hands in surrender. "Now, now. No need to get testy. I just wanted to have a little chat, is all. I need your help."
"Bullshit! You threatened to burn my house down with me inside it! That's not how you ask for help, dude. Even I know that."
Reverend Newlin looked down at his feet, he hated this. "You're right. That was bad. Look Stackhouse, Lord forgive me for saying it, but I despise you. But the truth is, I didn't know where else to go. I can't go back to my church, my wife-no one will have me. The vampires? They want nothing to do with me either, I'm just the result of their sick sense of humor—a joke. You are the only human I know who doesn't hate vampires."
Jason furrowed his brow, taking his eyes off Newlin's unbeating heart momentarily to shake his head. "You're right, I don't hate vampires, I hate you. Why on earth would I help you?"
"Because you're a good man, Jason Stackhouse, that's why."
"Shit," Jason cursed as he lowered his gun. "I am a good man, but you still can't come inside."
Merlotte's
The wolf was on Sam in a flash, pinning him to the ground in one swift, efficient move. Instinctively, Sam turned on his side, avoiding the sharp canine fangs lunging for his face, but it still managed to latch onto his shoulder—the sickening sound of his own flesh tearing echoing in his ears. Sam cried out, closing his eyes tight while he desperately tried to focus on an image of something he could shift into before the wolf ripped his arm off. He changed into the first suitable beast he could think of.
Sam's bones thickened and his frame expanded with a quick series of crunching noises, his clothes shredded, and he felt the air shimmer as his skin hardened into leathery armor. The change had forced his attacker to lose its hold and one of its teeth with a surprised yelp. The wolf fell to the ground and tried to recover, but Sam charged forward with all the might of his new form, ramming the sharp horn on his snout in the stumbling wolf's belly. The rhinoceros threw back his head, holding the skewered werewolf up in the air like a demented shish kabob as it struggled and howled in anguish. After a few seconds, the whimpering died along with the wolf, and now Sam had the naked body of the man he'd fought in Marcus's garage gouged on his horned nose.
With a grunt, Sam shifted back into a man, and the body flopped to the ground in the process. Two naked men now that it was all over, only one was still breathing.
"Damn."
Sookie's house
Sookie and Lafayette had moved into the living room couch while Bill and Eric handled things in the kitchen, taking care of Tara and disposing of Debbie Pelt's body. Sookie had passed the point of numb, and Lala was right there with her. They waited in silence, huddled together to form some semblance of comfort, so when the phone rang they nearly jumped out of their skins.
Sookie groaned as she got up to answer the offending ring across the room. "Hello?'
"Sookie, it's Alcide. Sorry to be callin' so late."
Shit, shit, shit. "It's not a problem. Everything okay?" she asked casually, trying not to
give away the fact she'd just murdered his girlfriend.
"No it ain't. I''ve been trying to reach Eric all night. Is he with you by any chance? I wouldn't be calling if it weren't important."
Relief flooded her body. "That's okay, he's here. Hold on a sec."
She made her way into the now clean kitchen, where Eric was just coming in from outside. Sookie gave him a worried look, and he raised an inquisitive brow.
"It's Alcide. He says it's important," she said, handing him the phone.
"Speak," Eric asked, skipping past the greeting. He listened for a moment and Sookie watched as his usual calm shifted suddenly to fury.
"Fuck! When...who...fuck!" Eric yelled into the receiver. He ended the call abruptly, and turned his eyes to Bill Compton, who was now standing beside Sookie.
"Russell Edgington is free. We have to get out of here...now!" Eric commanded, grabbing Sookie's arm and practically dragging her out the door. Bill sped into the living room to retrieve Lafayette.
Sookie felt her stomach drop when she heard the news. It was too much. "Seriously? Y'all didn't think he'd get loose? You should have killed him when you had the chance. But no! You had to have some kind of twisted revenge instead so now we're in danger...AGAIN!"
She was right about all of it, Eric knew, but that hardly mattered at the moment. "You can admonish me later to your hearts' content. Right now, we have to go." He told her as he ushered outside.
"Go where?" Sookie inquired, still petulant—this was all happening too fast.
"My place, sugar. Where else?" Lafayette answered wearily as he and Bill joined them outside. Lala handed Sookie her purse and car keys with a look of resignation that invited her to do the same.
She wanted to argue, dig in her heels and refuse to budge. She wanted to crawl in bed and sleep off this horrid day, let it fade away and put it all behind her. But the day was pig-headedly refusing to leave off being disastrous. She marched off without another word toward her car, muttering curses in her head while her three companions followed.
Piled in awkwardly like clowns at the circus, Sookie started the car. "Wait! What about Tara?" she asked before she put the car in gear. In all the clamor to leave, she'd nearly forgotten her.
In the front passenger seat, Eric closed his eyes—willing patience. Sookie's tendency towards compassion could get them killed, and in such close quarters, her tantalizing scent was overwhelming. There was nothing he could do about either of those facts, and it had him on edge. "Tara is fine. She's in the ground, and won't rise until tomorrow night. Drive."
"Okay, okay! I'm driving," she responded defensively pulling out of the driveway and onto the road, but she wasn't done asking questions. "I know she's in the ground, Eric, but what about when she wakes up? Are you gonna be there? What if you can't be because you're too busy dealing with Russell Edgington? Someone has to be there for her. Maybe I can do it."
"No!" came the immediate reply from both vampires present.
"Tara is my best friend. She would never hurt me," Sookie insisted, forgetting everything Tara had done recently to prove otherwise and earning an eye roll from towering blonde man sitting next to her.
Bill spoke up from the back seat, speaking in his most gentle tones. "A new born vampire is unpredictable at best. Their instincts are not yet under their control. You'd be..."
"Food," Lafayette supplied, not so gently.
"Well, yes. It isn't safe for you. A vampire needs to be there, perhaps I should call Jessica," Bill suggested.
"Enough. I will handle this; I am her maker. I won't let her rise alone and I have to say I'm insulted you'd think I'd abandon my own progeny," Eric rebuked both Sookie and Bill as he pulled out his cell phone and turned it on.
"Of course you wouldn't. I'm sorry, Eric," Sookie replied, feeling terrible for having doubted him. She reached over and placed her hand on his leg, and he covered it with his own, much larger hand. Apology accepted.
Bill had no such remorse, knowing Eric had essentially abandoned Pam for Sookie's sake.
"Your Majesty, you might want to call your child anyway. I do believe there's unfinished business in your office for her to handle," the sheriff advised helpfully, his irritation already past. Sookie's hand on his lap had lifted his spirits considerably.
"I will. Thank you, sheriff," the king replied, genuinely grateful for the idea.
"You are welcome, I'm sure."
Eric was studying his phone now. Not surprisingly, he had twenty missed calls, mostly from Pam and Alcide. The car was pulling up to Lafayette's place and he jumped out of the crammed space the instant the vehicle came to a stop. It was time to deal with Pam, and he preferred to do it without an audience. While the rest of the crew got out and walked up the hill, Eric stayed behind and placed his call.
She answered on the third ring. "Eric."
"Pamela," he said, mimicking the flatness of her tone.
Pam was silent for a moment. "Oh good, we know our names. I thought perhaps you'd forgotten mine, since you haven't answered any of my calls."
"Must've slipped my mind while Bill and I were being burned at the stake by Marnie's ghost, forgive me."
"What? Are you all right? What happened?" his child asked, appropriately concerned.
"I'm fine, thank you. I will explain another time. There's more pressing matters we need to discuss."
"Russell, yes I know. Alcide told me when he called looking for you. I shut down the club and now I'm at Ginger's house. Where are you, Eric?"
There's my clever girl, Eric thought proudly. But he knew things were still not right between them, and he was about to put her loyalty to the test.
"I'm safe for now, with Bill, Sookie and Lafayette...but this is not why I'm calling. I need you to do something for me, and trust me when I say I need you to do it without question or argument," he told her firmly, in an unmistakable way.
Pam stood in Ginger's gaudily appointed living room which held several shelves and curio cabinets filled with assorted collections; dolls, figurines of children with disturbing large eyes, elves, angels, fuzzy haired trolls, among other things. If it was tacky, Ginger not only had it, she had it in all shapes, sizes and colors.
The vampiress had been examining a red-headed doll dressed in a blue gingham pinafore, but now she held it in a death grip. She knew what the timbre of her maker's voice and words meant, but it had been years since he'd spoken to her like this. Her loyalty was unwavering, and it hurt that he could even think to question it, or worse—make her prove it.
"I understand, go on," she replied evenly, masking her anguish.
"I made you a sister, and I need you to be there for her when she rises tomorrow night. She won't understand what has happened to her, I'm afraid. She was nearly dead when I made her—a bullet to her head. I'm not even sure if it will work, but I want you there nonetheless. I expect you to show her the same consideration I showed you at your birth, understood?"
A sister! Was he serious? Was this to be her replacement? How could he do this? "Of course, master," she answered through gritted teeth, careful not voice any of her objections or questions out loud.
"Good," Eric's voice continued through the phone, maintaining its unyielding stance as he carefully instructed her to the location of his new child's resting place. He even made her repeat it all back to him, before he ended the call with one last, devastating blow. "By the way, I believe you are familiar with her already. Her name is Tara, Sookie's friend."
Ginger's doll met its doom as Pam crushed it into pieces with her hand. Poor thing never stood a chance.
Lafayette's house-interior
Being back inside the house again made Lafayette fill with regret, and all he wanted to do was get out of there—but to where? The couch, the bed, the table, the porch—everything reminded him of Jesús. It didn't help that he was knee deep in vampire shit again, either. He'd insisted Sookie take his bed, but she wasn't ready to sleep or able, so they both sat quietly on the couch waiting for the vampires to finish with their calls. In spite of everything, Lala fell asleep minutes later—ghostly possession and death taking its toll.
Bill came inside, looking out of place and time with his stiff manners, and he took the seat nearest Sookie.
"Is everything okay with Jessica?" Sookie asked him, more out of a need to say something than actual concern. Jessica had made it very clear she didn't want Sookie's involvement in her life.
"Yes. She's taking care of some kingdom business for me, then she'll join me here to go to ground for the day. I'd rather have her with me, in case Russell comes after her in retaliation."
"What about Hoyt? Won't he be worried?"
Bill gave her a quizzical look, and smiled. "I guess you've been too preoccupied lately to notice, but Jessica ended things with Hoyt and moved back in with me. I have to say, it's rather nice having her back."
Sookie's cheeks warmed to a blush—she had been pretty busy occupying herself with Eric. "I'm glad for you then," she managed to say before changing the subject. "I think I better call Jason and Sam, and give 'em a heads up. I'll be back in a sec. I left my cell phone in the car."
She was up and over to the front door in seconds, but Eric opened the door from the other side before she could. Once again, she felt her face turn hot and the need to get outside became more urgent.
"Excuse me, please."
Eric looked down at her, "Excuse me, but it seems you are blocking my way. Where do think you're going?"
"To get her phone. I will accompany her," Bill offered, suddenly appearing behind the flustered blonde—effectively boxing her in.
Not to be outdone, Eric counter offered. "Better yet, I will get it for her, or she can use one of ours. You are safer inside, Sookie."
"Aghhh! Enough already. The two of you are driving me crazy! Get out of my way, Eric," she demanded, pushing past him in a huff.
Bill and Eric watched for a bit as she stomped down the hill, and then followed at a respectful distance. By the time they reached the car, Sookie was retrieving her phone from the glove compartment. She turned around, shut the door with her hip and held up her cell for them to see. Her vampire escorts had managed once again to corner her, so she pushed her way through with an exasperated sigh. After a few steps, she stopped and turned around. Sure enough, Bill and Eric were practically following on her heels.
"This is ridiculous! I don't know if you are trying to protect me or competing for my attention or both, and I don't care. For pity's sake, quit it! Now, I'm going to walk over there," Sookie said pointing toward a broken fence about twenty feet away, "and make my calls. You both stay put until I'm done."
Wisely, her would-be beaus remained behind as she walked the short distance to the fence, shaking her head along the way as she thought about the situation. Was I not clear when I ended things with them both? How did they not get the message? I might as well have not said a word for all the good it did, yeesh.
She reached the fence still lost in thought and absently looked at the cell phone in her hand before remembering exactly why she had walked there. Sookie peeked over her shoulder at the two oddly still men behind her, glowing in the light of the moon like beautiful statues, and she smiled. She couldn't help it.
"Hello, sweet fairy," Sookie heard Russell Edgington say in front of her as he grabbed her and bit into her neck.